Dynamo is the most angular graphic family in this range, and the grey and red version is its most conventional execution — a combination that has meant fast motorcycle since before most of us started riding.

Everything that is usually an extra

The specification here is unusually complete for a thermoplastic helmet: integrated sun visor, Pinlock 70 MaxVision in the box, magnetic chin curtain, emergency-release cheek pads, channelled EPS ventilation and Bluetooth preparation.

🔵 What it does not have is an independent safety rating, which is covered further down.

1600 grams — the heaviest in the range, and why

🔵 The counter-argument, and it is a fair one: a helmet you never have to take off to change a visor or fit an insert is worn more comfortably over a day than a lighter one that keeps interrupting you.

The Storm III is heavy and complete. The Rapid III is light and bare.

KPA shell, three shell sizes and ECE 22.06

🔵 A homologation is a threshold rather than a ranking. Every helmet legally sold in Europe clears ECE 22.06, so the plaque tells you the Storm III met the requirement — not by how much.

For that you would want an independent rating, and as the next section explains, this helmet does not have one.

No independent safety rating — and nothing borrowed from a sibling

🔵 Where a rating exists we quote it and link it. Where one exists for a different model with a similar name, we say so and leave it out.

The FF818 Storm III: no independent rating. The Stream 2 and Strobe2: four stars each, and different helmets.

About the Dynamo grey and red graphic

Angular graphics have a functional property that flowing ones lack, and it is not merely a matter of taste. Hard boundaries between light and dark create edges, and edges are what peripheral vision locks onto; a smooth gradient across a shell gives the eye nothing to fix on and is read as a single soft object. That is why high-contrast angular liveries appear on emergency vehicles and airbrushed fades do not. Here the grey supplies the value and the red gives it something to sit against, which is the right way round for the effect to work. 🔵 Something specific about red before you choose it. Of all the pigments used on helmets it is the most vulnerable to ultraviolet, because the organic pigments that give red its saturation break down faster than the inorganic ones behind grey, blue and black. That is why a red helmet stored on a parcel shelf fades across a few summers in a way a grey one does not. Modern clear coats carry UV inhibitors and slow it considerably, so this is a reason to store the helmet sensibly rather than a reason to choose differently. Keep it out of prolonged direct sun, wash it wet, and dry it with a clean soft cloth.

Sun visor and the Pinlock in the box

🔵 A distance helmet needs both of these more than a commuter helmet does, because a long day passes through several kinds of light and at least one temperature change.

Glare is the sun visor's job; condensation on the inside of the screen is the Pinlock's. Both are supplied.

Crown and chin intakes, channelled EPS

🔵 The vent covers are part of the ECE 22.06 approval, because the current standard tests a helmet with everything fitted that will be sold on it. They open and close by hand and work in gloves.

Beyond that, no independent airflow figure exists for this model.

Emergency release, closure and comfort

The Storm III is prepared for a Bluetooth intercom — recesses and routing, without a supplied system. Check speaker depth rather than diameter before buying one; depth is what decides whether a speaker presses over a long ride.

🔵 The removable lining makes cable routing straightforward.

Where it sits in LS2's range

Against rivals at the same money from other brands, the Storm III's argument is the inclusion list rather than the shell. Many helmets at this price sell the Pinlock separately.

🔵 Its weakness against the same rivals is weight, and the absence of any published test result.

Care and replacement parts

Wash the lining a few times a season in cool water and dry it away from direct heat. Sweat degrades foam, and the foam is what holds the helmet in position on your head.

🔵 The whole interior comes out by hand in about two minutes.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Dynamo, Grey and red (KPA shell)
• Clear outer visor, fitted
• Integrated drop-down sun visor, fitted
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert — supplied, not a separate purchase
• Magnetic chin wind deflector, fitted and removable
• Breath deflector, fitted
• 🔵 No intercom — the helmet is prepared for a Bluetooth system, which is a separate purchase

Size guide

Measure at the widest part of the skull — usually just above the eyebrows at the front and around the bulge at the back, not around the forehead alone.

🔵 Compare against the chart below and start there.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF818 Storm III
• Part number — 168180506
• Colour — Dynamo — Grey and red
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• 🔴 Safety rating — none. SHARP's LS2 brand list carries the Strobe2, FF325 Strobe, Stream 2 and FF320 Stream but no Storm or Storm III; Certimoov has no entry either. Nothing is transferred from a sibling model — a rating belongs to the helmet that was crashed
• Shell — KPA injection-moulded thermoplastic; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• 🔴 Weight — approx. 1600 g (±50 g) — the heaviest helmet in LS2's road range. The sun visor mechanism, the emergency release and the second screen are what it is spent on
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Sun visor — integrated drop-down shield, retracting fully into the shell
• 🟢 Anti-fog — Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ insert SUPPLIED in the box — not a separate purchase, unlike LS2's FF820 Rapid III and FF808 Stream II
• Ventilation — large crown intake plus chin intake feeding channelled EPS, with rear exhausts (transparent elements in the covers) and a breath deflector. 🔵 Assessed from the published construction; no independent airflow measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this model
• Retention — ratchet buckle with emergency release — tabs allowing responders to withdraw the cheek pads before the helmet is moved
• Chin curtain — magnetic — refits with one gloved hand; fully removable
• Interior — fully removable and washable; cheek pads available in several thicknesses
• Communication — prepared for Bluetooth intercom — no system supplied
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — both visors, sun visor mechanism, cheek pads, complete lining, magnetic chin deflector, breath deflector and vent covers all available separately
• Replacement guidance — after about five years regardless of condition, and immediately after any impact

• 1× helmet
• Carrying bag
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers